Fitness Gadgets for Getting in Shape

Studies show that jumping rope is one of the most effective cardio exercises you can do. It is difficult, especially at first, but this tech-enhanced rope can make it a bit easier.Read more

The Tangram rope may even make your workouts more fun if you enjoy challenging yourself and setting mini-goals for each workout. LED lights and an onboard microcomputer display your jump count in the air, like something out of a sci-fi movie. You can link the rope to a smartphone app, which gives you calorie and elapsed time information.

The features don't end there. You can set up competitions and challenges with friends, and you also get awards in the mobile app. The rope syncs with fitness trackers and other wearables, too. Supported apps include both Apple HealthKit and Google Fit. MyFitnessPal and MapMyFitness are supported as well.

The Tangram Smart Rope fits users from 5 feet 6 feet 2 inches tall. The design features 45-degree handles for wrist comfort. There are ball bearings inside the handle for a clean, smooth motion. Each 360-degree turn of the rope, as you jump and it goes over your head, counts as one jump.

This innovative, portable, compact exercise unit is a convenient way to get a quick no impact full body workout.Read more

The tiny foam squeezable uses isometric resistance rather than aerobics or traditional strength training. This means the muscles are in a static, not dynamic, position. Pushing against the Activ5 causes your muscles to oppose each other while contracting. If you are sitting at a desk, try leaning forward slightly and pressing your palms on the desk, with your arms up and your elbows parallel to the desktop. You will feel the isometric contraction all through your arms, chest, and back.

Isometric exercises can help you maintain strength. They have a slight strength-building benefit, too. The Activ5 is best used between more strenuous exercises and is not meant to replace body weight or free weight training. Isometrics won't help make you flexible, either. Gentle isometrics will even help lower blood pressure if done over time.

Those are some good benefits for something so small and simple. You can work your entire body in less time than a gym workout would take. Activ5 also has the advantage of letting you work out anywhere--at your desk, while watching TV, in a public place, or during a flight. The unit comes with access to a coaching app that takes you through an array of five-minute workouts and includes challenges and game modes to keep things interesting.

Fitness boxing, whether for sport or general fitness, is an exciting and dynamic way to improve your overall health or bring variety to your practice. This low priced gadget lets you attach a mini speed bag to your head and punch your way to cardio health no matter where in the world you find yourself.Read more

The ball hangs from an elastic cord, and the game is to keep it in the air with your hands and fists. You won't need bag gloves, because the ball is made of soft foam, but light lifting gloves may help with accuracy. The foam construction also means no head injuries, no matter how many times you miss the target when you start out.

The set comes with the headpiece, cord, and two balls. The black ball is for beginners. Once you have mastered it, you can move on to the red ball, which Tekxyz calls "much more bouncy." Either ball will help you with speed, accuracy, and motor skills, all while giving you a decent cardio workout from all the movement you'll be doing.

Since the balls bounce and swing unpredictably, you'll burn calories trying to keep up with them. It's a good way to get in a sweat session, even if you don't have much time or can't even change into gym clothes. You'll build some of the muscles in your legs, arms, back, chest, and shoulders, too, with all the punching and dodging. Reviewers indicate the boxing ball is effective, even for martial artists, and that connecting with the 5.6-ounce ball is harder than it looks.

This portable tool is a round wood or plastic board with a hard rubber rounded bottom, bolted to the board, and held still in a plastic frame. The balance board will challenge you to stay stable while performing a variety of exercises, or even just standing in place.Read more

The product was originally used by surfers. The unstable platform emulates the motion of waves, and lets surfers practice staying on their boards without going to the beach. But anyone looking to move in new ways can have fun, and balance is just as important as strength or endurance when it comes to overall fitness.

Using the board can build strength in your lower back. it will also encourage your hip flexors to open. The hip flexors are the hinge muscles in your pelvis, including the massive psoas muscle that connects your spine and trunk to your legs. Most of us have tight hip flexors, especially if we sit a lot for work. This pushes the hip flexors down and keeps them from expanding. Opening the hip flexors with standing balance exercises can relieve lower back pain.

You can use the Balance Board anywhere--at home, in a hotel room, your office, or even outside. Carrying it to the gym will be easy since the whole unit weighs just 4.5 pounds. If you are wondering what exactly you can do with the board, don't worry. Each board comes with an illustrated workout poster that you can also view digitally on your phone or tablet.

The Urbnfit Balance Board can also help people with injuries in their rehab progress. With the board, you can make your workout as low impact as you need it to be while also strengthening any muscle group in your body.

These headphones are as compact as any other Bluetooth earbuds, so they won't get in the way of your workout as they coach you towards greater strength using an AI trainer who talks to you when the earphones are connected to an app.Read more

The app is called Vi trainer. It is compatible with iOs and Android. It is a paid app, costing 9.99 a month, though the first year is free when you purchase the headphones. Sensors in the earpieces track your heart rate as well as sensing motion and even your elevation.

The headphones are moisture-proof, so you can wear them outside in light rain. While you can't go swimming in the Vi Sense, you can drench them in sweat without any worries. When you put the earbuds in, customized music starts playing to accompany your activity. Since the trainer is AI, it learns to work with your strengths and suggest workouts for you, giving you an extra boost when you need it.

The headphones are remarkably durable and well-engineered. The Vi Sensor won an award for package design in 2018. You can answer calls and play music from your smart device, and the battery will go for around 8 hours before it needs a charge.

This is a mightily enhanced version of the sleep tracker that is now standard issue on fitness tracker watches and bands.Read more

When you order the Emfit, you get a sensor unit that slides under your mattress. There are no wires or electrodes to keep you from falling asleep like you normally do. The sensor tracks your breathing and heartbeat, while also monitoring your periods of a deep sleep, light sleep, and stirring or restlessness.

The tracker also tells you how many hours you sleep. This is important because many of us do not fall asleep right away. We may wake up during the night or have unwanted wakefulness before our alarm goes off. All these intrusions can prevent you from getting about eight hours of sleep per night, which fits the needs of most adults. The Emfit helps you resolve these problems to get proper sleep, which helps you feel alert and efficient throughout your day.

The data from the sensor display is an attractive, full-featured app on your smartphone, tablet, or PC. The application is web-based. We are excited about the PC feature because many fitness apps will only make data available on a phone or tablet. There are still many fitness buffs who prefer the bigger screen, mouse pointer, and full keyboard of a PC or laptop.

While we have reviewed the best cooling towels, we didn't look at any Chill Pal products. This one has a unique band shape designed to go around your neck for targeted heat relief.Read more

The band is suitable for outdoor workouts, cooling down in the gym, attending outdoor events, or even just relaxing at home if you live in an area with hot summers. The band shape means you can do more than just wipe yourself down or drape the product around your shoulders, too. The Band can serve as a bandana, head wrap, scarf, turtleneck collar, scalp pad, and a few others. This is why Chill Pal calls their product a 12 in 1.

To use the pad, you just have to submerge it in cold water, wring it out, and wear it. When the cooling wears off, you can resoak it to reactivate the effects. The Chill Pal works as a cold compress for migraine relief in addition to its swear fighting applications.

The band is just .2 inches thick, and won't feel heavy even when wet. It is 4 inches wide and 6 inches long. The band comes with a leaf pattern, or in a solid blue color. The material, similar to that of a cooling towel, is breathable and allows for circulating air. Chill Pal suggests keeping the wet band in the refrigerator until it is ready to use. You could pack a few of these in a cooler if you are doing a picnic or outdoor event.

This is not a pair of shorts, but a sensor that clips to your existing run shorts. It interfaces with your phone as it analyzes several dimensions of your stride to give you personalized coaching suggestions.Read more

Part of the appeal of the Lumo sensor and app is that any runner can use it and benefit from it. New runners will get help with form and learn how to condition themselves for speed and endurance. More experienced runners can get tips for injury reduction and work on improving their race times. The technology is adaptable, learning from each runner, and then using the results of its analysis to give useful feedback.

The app tools focus not on speed drills or adding distance, but on breaking down form. Many runners do not recruit all the muscles they may need during their run, resulting in lower performance. Habits become hard to break, once we are used to them, and the Lumo app will aid in identifying those gait patterns and helping you improve. The enhanced form and lower incidence of pain or soreness are what will help you run faster and farther.

After an initial 10-minute settings run, you have the option of running with or without your phone when you wear the sensor. After your run, you can check the app for a summary and trends tracker. You can compare your performance to earlier runs quickly. If you run with the phone, you will receive GPS map data as well as distance and pace. The Lumo app only works with the iPhone, not the Android, at the time of this writing.

This tiny sensor uses adhesive to stick between your shoulder blades and monitor your posture, feeding data to an app on your mobile device.Read more

Posture, the way we hold our bodies in space, has a huge impact on our fitness and overall quality of life. Slouching and other acquired habits will put pressure on our spines, ligaments, joints, and muscles. The pressure can lead to chronic pain and reduced physical capacity. A non-neutral spine also leaves us susceptible to injuries.

The Posture Trainer aims to help solve those problems by coaching you throughout the day with an app. The product consists of a small sensor that you wear on your back. The sensor is just a rounded piece of plastic with circuitry inside. There are no straps to adjust or extra garments to wear. When the sensor feels you slouching or settling forward, it sends a silent vibration that reminds you to sit or stand up straight.

Besides the alerts and reminders, the Posture Trainer gives you little exercises you can do to train your body. helping you correct your posture until it becomes habitual. The programs are designed to make you more aware of how you hold your body. The app also gives you daily reports and a score for how well you maintained posture that day. Tracking your score helps you feel more confident, putting you in competition with yourself. The result is better posture, less pain and fatigue, and a better understanding of how your posture affects your physical health.

The sensor charges with a micro USB cable. It is not waterproof or sweatproof. Upright Go cautions against wearing the sensor during sweaty activities. The package comes with nine adhesive strips, which will not irritate skin and which are reusable.

This device, which is shaped like a smartphone, will measure your body fat and point out the quality of your various muscle groups for training purposes.Read more

Skulpt says their invention will measure the quality of 24 different muscle groups, pointing out imbalances where one muscle is weaker than the one on the other side. You also get body fat percentage, which many people look to as an indicator of overall health.

Using the device regularly can give you an idea of which muscles to focus on during training. This will balance out your body, increasing performance, and also helping protect you from injury. The device is useful for athletes in all different sports, and for almost any physical activity as a training tool.

After scanning your muscle groups, the device analyzes your stats and progress. It then offers up guidance for your future workouts. The Skulpt connects wirelessly to most iPhone and Android devices. It uses Bluetooth and will work with Apple Health. This is not a wearable, but something you can keep close at hand or put in a gym bag. It is not designed to be used as part of a workout.